PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline ends, a fine of Rs 500 to be imposed

Greater Noida: As per the government guidelines, those who have failed to link their PAN Card with their Aadhar card will face a penalty of Rs 500 within three months of the deadline. Post nine months of that, the penalty will Rs 1,000.

Earlier, the deadline for linking PAN Card with Aadhaar was 30th September 2021. The CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) had extended the deadline for linking PAN Card with Aadhaar Card deadline till 31 March 2022.

The unlinked PAN will remain functional for one more year, till March 2023, for filing ITR. However, it will not remain valid further. During this period, the PAN can be used for any transaction or trading but will get discontinued soon.

CBDT amends Income Tax Rules,1962 for prescribing fee u/s 234H of IT Act,1961. Window of opportunity provided to taxpayers upto 31st March,2023, vide Notification No. 17/2022 dt 29/03/2022 for intimating Aadhaar on payment of certain fee. Circular No. 7/2022 dt 30/3/2022 issued. pic.twitter.com/oqSHSyFHro

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) March 30, 2022

As per the press release issued by the CBDT, "To mitigate the inconvenience to the taxpayers, as per Notification No.17/2022 dated 29th March 2022, a window of opportunity was provided to the taxpayers till 31st of March, 2023 to intimate their Aadhaar to the prescribed authority for Aadhaar-PAN linking without facing repercussions. As a result, taxpayers will be required to pay a fee of Rs. 500 up to three months from 1st April 2022 and a fee of Rs.1000 after that, while intimating their Aadhaar."

Also read | Greater Noida gets first Aadhaar Sewa Kendra

Thus, your PAN will remain operative till March 31, 2023, and an unlinked PAN-Aadhaar can be linked by paying the penalty amount. Do note that the income tax department can also levy a penalty under section 272B for up to Rs 10,000 for not having an active PAN.

In Greater Noida West, Adhaar Sewa Kendra is helping its citizens to get the PAN card linked with the Adhaar card. There is a Strict 'no mask no entry' policy. There are four counters where the documents are checked. A new Aadhar card is made without any charge. For Adhaar enrollment, it is free.  For Demographic updates like address changes, the charge is 50 rupee. For biometric change or update, the charge is 100 rupee. E- Adhaar download and colour print is for 30 rupees. The mandatory biometric update is done for free. There are 8 operators are available here who help the customers.

At a time, 40 people can take benefit from the Adhaar Sewa Kendra with their queries getting solved in a few minutes. The total procedure takes only 5-6 minutes. One can see in real-time what the operator is doing on his screen, as the operator types on his system, everything is visible to the person on his screen too. Simultaneously, he can ask for any correction needed.

On being asked about how the people who are not tech savvy and unaware can approach to get their Pan and Adhaar linked, Sumit Kumar Dikshit, Centre Manager, Aadhar Sewa Kendra says, "Yes, we will help any such people. If any senior citizen or specially able person approaches, we are here to help. One day, an 80-year-old lady came to file the ITR. In just 5 minutes, all her work was done by our Kendra. We are always ready to help the elderly. Our entry points are well connected with the lift and the ramps for the wheelchair accessibility within 5 meters.”

He continues, “Everything is well planned here keeping in mind every age group. We have both male and female staff, who will even fill out your form if you are unable to do it. The main motive is to make our services as accessible as possible.”